Around 25,000 people take to the streets of Madrid in defense of state pensions

March in central Madrid

Around 25,000 people marched through central Madrid on Saturday demanding the protection of the state pension system; city authorities gave this estimate of the number of participants to the AFP agency. The demonstrators marched peacefully from Atocha station to Gran Via, the capital's main shopping street; some carried placards reading 'protect and guarantee our pensions.' The rally took place a month before the parliamentary elections scheduled for November 29, amid a dispute over the sustainability of the pension system and the cost of living.

Pre-election dispute over indexation

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accuses the right of planning to weaken the link between pension increases and inflation, which has been in place since 2022: the Popular Party voted against the law introducing this mechanism. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said on Monday that if his party wins the elections, it will continue to raise pensions annually in line with inflation. Earlier this month, PP deputy Esther Muñoz predicted that the current pension system would 'collapse' and called for it to be changed, which drew criticism from the government.

What is known about the scale of the system

About 6.8 million people receive a state pension in Spain; according to the Ministry of Social Security, in September the average payment was 1,576 euros ($1,765) per month. March participants explained their attendance by concerns about the future: Juan Fernández, a 38-year-old civil servant from Seville, told AFP that he was not sure he would receive a pension and opposes privatizing the system, since its private component would depend on stock market quotations. Pilar, 64, who is approaching retirement age, called pensions 'untouchable' and urged protecting public services as well — healthcare and education.